LIFE IN THE WEST.

Tnis volume tells the story of a voyage to America in the British Queen, and describes a variety of excursions in the United States and Canada, chiefly among the lately-settled districts round the further Lakes. The object of these ramblings does not very dis- tinctly appear. From inquiries the writer made about the price of farms, and his travels through the thinly-inhabited frontiers, where there was little of tourist-attraction to repay him for his trouble, one would guess him to be an agriculturist contemplating a settle- ment across the Atlantic, or perhaps a land-speculator in embryo. The authorcraft displayed in his clever though coarse account of the outward voyage—the absence of information on agricultural or other practical pursuits, unless incidentally or by-the-by- and the article-like style in which he presents the incidents of his journey and his sketches of the people—smack of the litterateur, who made a steam-voyage and land-journey to make a book. A visit on foot to a station in the wilderness, where the Indians assemble to receive their annual payment from the American Government, looks really like the feat of an adventurous traveller,— unless the writer was smitten with the mania for locomotion, or contemplated for a moment turning Indian trader. The book is readable, with a certain degree of the " dead-lively" style, and a sort of coarse cleverness. It also conveys a clear though superficial idea of " Life in the West," as well as in New York and other places, so far as it fell within the author's observa- tion. This, however, was a limited range. He seems to have hung loose upon society, penetrating no deeper than inns, boarding- houses, and public conveyances ; having no other acquaintances than what he picked up on the road, and no large purpose either in science or practice to sharpen his attention and impart interest to Lsommon objects. Men and manners, he no doubt would tell us, were his study, till he got among the newly-cleared farms: but he Is not exactly the kind of person to pursue such a study with

advantage. His mind seems a compound of the reporter and magazine-writer : he can tell an incident with a tale-like effect,

and report a dialogue with a retention of its points and character; but much beyond externals he cannot go. It is probable, indeed, that his skill in his line may somewhat injure the character of the book, by giving it a made-up air. But we incline to think that his general picture is true, though particular things may be coloured or dressed up for effect. When travelling in and about Michigan, some of his descriptions have a common character with those of Mrs. CLAVERS : to whose accuracy of delineation, by-the-by, tes- timony was borne by two Baptist ministers of Michigan, whom our author fell in with aboard one of the Lake steamers.

The superficial, touch-and-go, half-playwright character of the book, renders it better adapted for perusal than for isolated ex- tracts. To exhibit a whole of any scene or incident, would require more space than the merit of the volume challenges ; and as con- densation is not the writer's forte he seldom packs much matter into a little space. However, we will take a few of the more avail- able passages.

AMERICAN RECEPTION OF FATAL NEWS.

The non-appearance of the Erie steamer caused no small anxiety in the town. The bar-rooms of the American were crowded with townspeople, anxious to hear the news, if any ; and a variety of drinks, gin-slings, and sherry-cobblers were hastily swallowed with every vague report, till at last the sad truth flashed upon us. The Erie, as all the world knows, was burnt on Lake Erie, and an unknown number of souls sent to settle their last account. Hosts of townspeople gathered round every one who had later tidings, and the newspaper-offices were beset with crowds, seeking authentic information : but when the steam-boat despatched from Detroit in search of survivors returned with only two, the captain and a boy, severely burnt, I never saw blacker de- spair and mortification more deeply and suddenly stamped, than upon the faces of some of the expectant crowd. Yet not a word, not a murmur, escaped them, as every man went quietly to his own place to vent his grief for the loss of friends and relatives in private.

THE HOOSIERS.

Walking by the lake-side this evening, I found a regular encampment of hoosiers. The hoosiers are a genus of the pedlar tribe, having a dash of the tinker and freebooter in their veins. Having heard the word hoosier pro- nounced with respect mingled with fear in the Eastern States, I was happy to fall in with those respectable ogres. Their large covered waggons were drawn up in hollow squares on the lake-shore; and their horses, tethered and har- nessed, browsed upon the stunted grass. Here and there fires were blazing, pots boiling, pork toasting. The gaunt uncouth figures of the hoosiers, as they strode about their waggons, puffing clouds of smoke from pipes, and even cigars, reminded me of the tall cavaliels and muleteers lounging about a Spanish bivouac. They (the hoosiers, not cavaliers) had sold the wheat they had col- lected through the country to the corn-factors and speculators of Chicago for six York shillings per bushel, realizing some two or three shillings per bushel more than they had paid for the same; and the empty sacks being piled upon the waggons, formed convenient beds, upon which some half-dozen hoosiers were already wrapped in the arms of Morpheus. Some of the horses were tall and well-shaped, combining blood, bone, and sinew enough for English carriage- horses. I noticed particularly a span or team of well-matched roans, snorting about one of the waggons; till the floosies thrust his head from under the cover, and regarding the horses with a sour countenance, gravely asked them what they wanted—what they meant by keeping up " such a 'tarnal blowin' about the waggon?" The horses, thus rebuked, backed till the hoosier pulled in his head, and then they advanced and began snorting and pawing as before. This roused the hoosier's indignation ; and this time his head, shoulders, and half his lank body, was thrust forth from under the waggon-cloth. " Haven't ye had your oats ?" he exclaimed, shaking his fist at the steeds ; " a bushel between ye and what do'ee want, zay ? " The horses had recoiled as before ; but now the off-wheeler advanced, stretched out his neck and stared at his master, while he shook himself so violently that the heavy saddle (in which the hoosiers ride like the French postillions) and harness rattled again. " Ho, is that all you want ? " said the hoosier : and, speaking to a boy at one of the fires, he bade him unsaddle the horse, and let him roll to h—1 if he pleased.

MARCH OF THE PRINTER.

Here I record once more the obligation I am under to the Young Men's As- sociation; for, sans ceremonie, I entered their reading-rooms several times during my sefour at Chicago, and read newspapers and periodicals to my heart's content. Chicago also furnishes a circulating library, where strangers will find the recent publications and standard works, novels, &c. of the day. Looking over books one day, 1 was rather amused to bear a tall, gaunt farmer, from a distant prairie, ask for the last part of Charles O'Malley, the Irish Dragoon. The man of books demurred : it was out—he could not find it. "Well,

wait, and put up my team till you find him," quoth the farmer. " not face the girls at home without The Irish Dragoon." The demand for Ten Thousand a Year was likewise made in my hearing, if not ten thousand times, often enough to show how anxiously those works are looked for in the West.

LIVING IN THE WEST.

Dined at the house of a thriving New Englander, who from small beginnings is now the proprietor of five thousand acres of prairie-land: he has enclosed several fields of Indian corn with ditches instead of rails—more permanent work—answering the double purpose of staying the prairie-tire and keeping off cattle' he has sunk a well and built stables, barn, and hog-pen, on a large scale; and, like a wise man, lived up to this in a simple log and mud cabin. I am really at a loss to know where the good people in this country, this out-of-the- way place, find all the good things they set before travellers, especially the New Englanders: they seem to live better here than they do at home, and riot in pumpkin-pies and all sorts of cakes and meats, savoury stews, Stc. ; and, to be sure, wine and strong drink is not to be found on the table, but rich cream and excellent tea and coffee fill up the vacuum, and invariably conclude a meal fit for an alderman.

The trifling sum of twenty-five cents or two York shillings a head is the moderate demand for all this; and more, for some travellers smoke the land- lord's pipe, and others take gum-ticklers and gin-slings by way of a " classic cafe."

The picture of this settler's farm is, however, rather an excep- tion than a rule. The general impression of the extreme West, left by this volume, is that of a country in a state of transition from the wilderness to cultivation. Speculators fix upon a locality, lay it out for a town and so forth, and puff it well ; occasionally there is a lucky hit when the site has been judiciously chosen ; sometimes the scheme fails in embryo ; at others a good many persons purchase lots, expend their capital in erecting buildings, buying and clearing land, &c.; when, if the speculation fail, they fail -with it, and the West seems fairly enough sprinkled with checked and deserted towns and settlings, to remain in a ruinous or stunted state till the spread of population give a value to the property. If the account were fairly balanced in Western coloni- zation, it is probable that more money is lost than won. The Americans, however, are not, like the English, dashed by failure : a genuine Yankee will undertake any thing ; and when he has lost his capital, (if he ever had any,) take up the first employment that offers to retrieve or advance his fortunes.

The picture of the Indians drawn by this writer savours of the estimate of later writers, rather than of the poetical view of" the stoic of the woods." In all modern accounts, however, it must be remembered that the Indian seen is no longer the free and native savage, but a degraded race, corrupted by the arts and a victim to the habits of intemperance introduced by the "pale faces." We quote from this section of the book an account of a council held to adjust claims after the Government-allowance-money was paid to the Indians ; a practice very liable to generate a good deal of swindling.

THE INDIAN COUNCIL.

On Saturday, another council was held, which was conducted with greater regularity than the last. The bills of the traders were considered, and claims for compensation for services done to the Indians, and damages done by the In- dians, brought before the house, or wigwam. Fifty dollars claimed by a settler near the Little Cocaloo for a cow slain by them. Not allowed; " because," said the Indians, "the White man sold the flesh of the cow, which was shot by accident, therefore he lost nothing by it." One hundred dollars claimed by a doctor at the Bay for attending a sick Indian family during the small-pox. His claim rejected, but afterwards he was allowed fifty dollars. One hundred dollars claimed by one Boyd, an ex-agent, for having taken care of an old In- dian he found frost-bitten on the ice; loud laughter, and claim rejected. A claim by a merchant of Astor, who had buried an Indian, and incurred consi- derable expense at the funeral, was at once allowed.

Sundry minor claims being allowed and rejected, OsloCosh made a speech i

to the chiefs, which was not interpreted; but the purport of it was, that one of the Grignona should receive half a dollar a head from the whole tribe ; and after a little delay, the agent was directed to transferoome fifteen hundred dollars to this lucky wight for services rendered ; in fact, it was a liberal present, and no- thing more or less. I could not believe it till I saw the boxes opened and the dollars transferred to the safe-keeping of a gaunt, yellow, ill-conditioned man.

"What has he done for the Indians?" said I.

"Oh, he has been always their friend : his father is the old trader, but he is the gentleman of the family," said my informant. "He has lost a great deal by the Indians : he always gives them good advice, and is glad to see them."

As to his losses I cannot speak, but as to his gains I can bear witness : the Indians had given him a large tract of land near the Winnebago lake; they had worked for him, supplied him with game, fish, flesh, and fowl, planted his corn, built his lodges. But still he bad lost a great deal by the Indians, said his Mends: but it was easier to say so than to prove the fact. At a later hour I saw this gentleman throwing away dollars with great sang livid at a faro-table-.-- a hazard and thimblerig concern, which a nest of blacklegs got up at the Striped Apron, in the hopes of fleecing such gentlemen as had their claims allowed by the Indians. Finally, Osh Cosh rose up and made a long harangue : he said, "There is a man here present to whom we are all indebted: he draws up our papers, and sees justice done to us ; he is our attorney ; and in consider- ation of his services we will allow him fifty dollars."

This half-breed of an attorney sat watching the money-boxes, and the mo- ment he heard fifty dollars Ms countenance fell—never was man more disap- pointed: and the Indians seemed surprised when he was doled out fifty dollars for his two years' services. It was a mistake, a lapsus linguce of Osh Cosh, who had used the word fifty instead of five hundred ; and the delighted man of quips and quirks was soon handed a box of five hundred dollars.